Barry Coates

Last updated

New Zealand Parliament
Barry Coates
Barry Coates.jpg
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
In office
7 October 2016 23 September 2017
YearsTermElectorateListParty
20162017 51st List 16 Green

Coates was the Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand from September 2003, [7] and he stepped down on 7 March 2014 to contest the general election for the Green Party in the Mount Roskill electorate. [4] He subsequently developed a programme on sustainability for the University of Auckland Business School, and was Coordinator of "It's Our Future", the campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). [8]

On 5 September 2016, it was announced that Kevin Hague intended to resign from the House of Representatives, and that Coates would replace him as a list MP. [9] [10] [11]

On 7 October 2016, he was officially sworn in as Member of the House of Representatives and member of the Green Party parliamentary caucus.

Coates suggested in a July 2017 post on the left-wing "The Daily Blog" that the Green Party might force a second election if the Labour Party formed a coalition with New Zealand First without the Greens. [12] His comments were challenged by co-leader James Shaw who stated that forcing a hung parliament or second election was "absolutely not" the party's position. [13] As number 10 on the party's list, he was not re-elected when the Greens elected only 8 MPs. [14]

Post-politics

Following the 2017 general election, Coates founded the consumer awareness organisation "Mindful Money", which focuses on ethical investment practices. [15] In October 2019, Coates praised the Sustainable Finance Forum's draft report advocating ethical investment particularly the transition towards a low-emissions economy and inclusiveness. [16] In 2019, Mindful Money convinced several fund managers at KiwiSaver to reconsider their investments in nuclear weapons manufacturing. As a result, investment in nuclear weapons dropped from $100 million in 2019 to below $10 million in 2024. Following the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Coates and Francesca Albanese (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories) met with 10 KiwiSaver managers to petition them to divest from companies identified by Mindful Money or the United Nations Human Rights Council as support Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Mindful Money was criticised by Dr David Cumin of the pro-Israel lobby group "Israel Institute of New Zealand" for an alleged "undue fixation" on Israel. Coates disagreed with Cumin's assertion, saying that Mindful Matters was focusing on companies violating ethical standards and international humanitarian and human rights laws. [15]

References

  1. "About us". mindfulmoney.nz. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. "Our People - Barry Coates". mindfulmoney.nz. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  3. "Barry Coates". Oxfam. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 Barclay, Sophie (3 December 2013). "Oxfam Executive Director turns to politics". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  5. Anderson, Megan (19 October 2009). "Barry Coates – Pacific watchdog on the world". Pacific Scoop. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  6. "Barry Coates". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  7. "Barry Coates". Oxfam NZ. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  8. "Barry Coates MP". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  9. "Green MP quits". Stuff.co.nz . 5 September 2016.
  10. "Kevin Hague quits Greens for Forest and Bird". The New Zealand Herald . 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  11. "Barry Coates named Sustainability Champion winner at 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards". 18 November 2016 via Scoop Independent News.
  12. Coates, Barry. "Great Together". The Daily Blog. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  13. Davison, Isaac (13 July 2017). "Green MP's comments on NZ First the 'height of stupidity' - Winston Peters". The New Zealand Herald .
  14. "2017 General Election Party Lists". Elections.org.nz. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  15. 1 2 MacDonald, Theo (March 2024). "How much a dollar cost?". North & South : 42–45. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024.
  16. Coates, Barry (31 October 2019). "Barry Coates: Why green is good for business". The New Zealand Herald . Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.